simpson



Oct. 18

W. E. SIMPSON AIR HOIS'I Filed April 3, 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 3mm Awumm E. .Smwsou.

Oct. 18,1927.-

w. E. SIMPSON AIR HOIST.

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Oct. 18, 1927. w. E. SIMPSON 65 AIR HOIST Filed April 5. 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Oct. 18 1927.

W. E. SIMPSON AIR HOIST Filed April 5. 1922 9 Sheets-$heet 9 Patented Oct. 18, 1927.

warren stares PATENT caries.

WILLIAM E. SIMIPSDN, 013 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO PALMER-BEE COMPANY,

' OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

AIR HOIST.

Application filed April 3, 1922. Serial No. 549,232.

- The invention relates to fluid pressure apparatuses and refers particularly to apparatuses operated by compressed air and adapted to hoist loads, although these apparatuses are adapted to be used for other purposessuch as feeding coal into furnaces and removing ashes therefrom, feeding billets through furnaces, etc. One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a compact hoist in which the rate of movement, of the hoisting member can be varied through a comparatively widcrange. Another object is the provision of a hoist in which a manually operable valve controls the movement of the hoisting member and the hoisting member automatically comes to a stop when the manually operable valve becomes stationary. Further objects of the invention are the provision of a main valve which is manually operated and an auxiliary valve which is'operated by the piston, the two valves being relatively movable and the auxiliary valve being adapted to close the passages in the main valve when the latter has become stationary; the provision of an operating wheel yieldably connected to the main valve to move-the same; and the provision of means for limiting the movement of the operating Wheel when the hoisting member is near the ends of its movements.

With the above objects as well as others in view, the invention resides in the novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings: v I

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a singleacting air hoist embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation thereof; Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation thereof; a s I Figure l is a central longitudinal cross section through the upper end of the air hoist; w v Figure 5 is a cross section on the line 55 of Figure l;

Figure 6 is a cross section on the line (3-6 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a top plan View ofthe valve box I T Figure 8 is a side elevation thereof;

Figures 9 and 10 are cross sections on the lines 99 and 1010 respectively of F igure 7 Figures 11 and 13 are bottom plan views of the main and auxiliary valves, respectively;

Figure 12 is a cross section on the line 1212 of Figure 11;

Figures 14, 15, and 16 are top plan views showing different positions of relative rotative adjustment Figures 17, 18, and 19 are cross sections respectively through Figures 14:, 15 and 16;

Figure 20'is a rear elevation of a balanced an hoist;

Figure 21 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section therethrough. x i

1 is the cylinder of the hoist, 2 the piston slidable within 't-he cylinder, 3 the piston rod, and 4: the load hook connected to'the lower end of the )iston rod below the cylinder. 5 is the mec ianism for controlling the entrance and exhaust of compressed air into the cylinder.

In the single acting type of air hoist, the" compressed air is admitted into the lower end of the cylinder to raise the piston and this alr upon being permitted to exhaust, allows the piston to lower, the cylinder being supported in vertical position. 6 is the lower head of the cylinder having an axial apera ture through which the piston rod 3 passes,

there being suitable packing 7 to prevent the escape of the air along the piston rod, and 81s the upper head of the cylinder. These heads are secured to the ends of the cylinder by the tie rods 9. The hoist is suspended by the bail 10 which has the parallel legs 11 also passing through extensions on the upper and lower heads and by the nuts 12 threaded upon the lower ends of the legs and abutting the lower face of the lower head. Y

The control mechanism 5 comprises an air chest adapted to communicate with the hoist in the air chest and adapted to control the passage of the air to and from the cylinder.

The air chest'is formed of the lower section or valve box 13 and the upper section or cover 14, there being the central air supply chamber 15 in the upper portion of the valve box, closed by the cover. The valve box and cover have the threaded annular flanges l6 and 17 respectively for securing the cover to the body. The valve box has the air supply passage 18 communicating with the air supplychamber 15 and with the cylinder and also the valve mechanism with- 23 and the auxiliary rotary valve 2%, the

main valve being superposed upon the auxiliary valve and the peripheries of both. valves providing clearance in the air supply chamber for the passage of compressed air into the air supply chamber above the main valve. As shown in Figure 11, the main valve has the inlet passage 25 therethrough and also the recessed exhaust passage 26 opening upon its lower face, and as shown in Figure 13, the auxiliary valve has the main passage 27 extending therethrough and the exhaust passage 28 also extending therethrough. The main passage 2. of the auxiliary valve has the same radial distance as the inlet passage 25 of the main valve so that upon relative rotation oi the main valve and auxiliary. valve, the inlet and main pasv sages can be brought into registration. The

exhaust passage 26 of the main valve is sub stant-ially U-shaped and has its legs extending circumterentially. The outer leg 29 is located at the same radial distance as the main passage 27 of the auxiliary valve so that the two can be brought into registration and the inner leg 30 is located at the same radial distance as the exhaust passage 28 ot' the auxiliary valve so that the two can be brought into registration with each other. Also the main passage 27 and exhaust passage 28 of the auxiliary valve are so located relatively to each other that the exhaust passage 26 of the main valve can place the two in communication with each other. The auxiliary valve has the concentric outer and inner annular grooves 31 and 32 in its lower face, which grooves respectively communicate with the main passage 27 and the exhaust passage 28 in the auxiliary valve. To place the air transfer chamber 20 of the valve box 13 in communication with the outer annular groove 81, the valve box has the spaced openings 38; and to place the exhaust chamber 21 of the valve box in communication with the inner annular groove 32, the valve box has the openings 34.

To limit the rotation of the main valve relatively to the auxiliary valve so that the inlet and exhaust passages of the main valve cannot pass the main passage in the auxiliary valve, the main valve has the semi-circular slot 35 extending therethrough, but atthe side of the axis opposite to the inlet and exhaust passages. Also the auxiliary valve has the pin 35 which extends upwardsage of the main valve registers with the main pa .1 e of the auxiliary valve at which time the varve is closed.

With the construction as thus far de scribed, and assuming the valve to be closed, as shown in Figures 14 and 17, and the piston stationary, clockwise rotation of the main valve 23 relative to the auxiliary valve 24 brings the inlet passage 25 ot' the main valve into registration with the main pas 1'6 27 of the auxiliary valve, as shown in ires 15 and 18, which permits compressed air to pass from the air supply chamber 15 01 the air chest successively through these pasiages, the outer annular groove 31, the openings 33, chamber 20, and pipe 22, into the lower end of the cylinder To permit of the exhaust of the coinressed air from the lower end of the cylin- Ger fine main valve is rotated in a counterclockwise direction relative to the auxiliary valve to bring its exhaust passage 26 into registration with both the main passage 27 and exhaust passage 28 of the auxiliary valve, as shown in Figures 16 and 19, at which time the compressed air leaving the cylinder 1 successively passes through the pipe 22, air transfer chamber 20, openings 38, outer annular groove 31, main passage 27 of the auxiliary valve, exhaust passage 26 of the main valve, exhaust passage 28 of the auxiliary valve, inner annular groove 32 ol. the auxiliary valve, openings 34 in the valve box and into exhaust chamber 21.

To muffle the exhaust of the compressed air, it escapes through the annular series of apertures 36 in the upper end of the cylinder 1, the upper head 8 of this cylinder having the downwardly and outwardly inclined passages 36 communicating with the exhaust chamber 21 through the vertical. passage in the valve box. This upper head has the central depressed portion 38 providing the annular space 39 which places the downwardly and outwardly inclined passages 86 in communication with the vertical passage 37. The annular series or" apertures 36 are located abovethe plane of the lower face of the central depressed portion of the head so that they are open at all times.

Ofi

To manually rotate the main valve 23, it

tending boss 40 having a transverse groove which is engaged in by the flat lower end 41 of the'valve stem 42, which extends upwardly through the cover 14 and has the polygonal shaped upper end 43 above the cover.

Thestem42 also has the collar 44 which engages thelower face of the cover and extending between the lower face of this collar and the upper face of the main valve is a coil spring 45 which yieldably maintains the collar in engagement with the cover and also yieldably maintains the main valve in contact with the auxiliary ,valve, thereby preventing escape of the air along the valve stem and between the valves. 46: is an operating Wheel comprising the upper and lower-sections 47 and 48 respectively which are integral with each other. This operating, wheel is rotatably mounted upon the valve box cover and its lower section has its inner periphery engaging the outer periphery. of the cover. To prevent upward move ment of the operating wheel, there is the ring 49 secured to. the lower face of the lower section 48 bythe bolts 49and abutting the annular shoulder 50 upon the cover. 51 is a wheel having a central polygonal aper: ture fitting-the polygonal upper end 43 of the main valve stem,-this wheel being between theupperv section "47 of the operating wheel and the valve box cover and having curved slots 52 of the same radius with their adjacent ends spaced. 53 are coil springs within these slots and carried in the annular groove 54 in the upper face of the valve box cover. 55-is a depending driving lug upon the upper section47 of the operating wheel and extending between the ad acent ends ofthe coil springs 53 which are initially compressed, the arrangement being such that rotation of the operating wheel 46 in either direction rotates the inner wheel5l through the depending projection 55, and one of the coil springs 53.

56 is an operating chain engaging the notched portion of the operating wheel, this chain extending around the operating wheel and passing over the parallel sheaves 57 upon the shaft 58 journalled in the support 59 at one side of the operating wheel. This support has the base 60 resting upon the .upper head 8 of the cylinder and secured thereto by one of the tie rods 9. To prevent rotation of this support relative to the upper head, there are the-dowel pins 61 in the upper head engaging in the base of the support.

To prevent accidental disengagement of the operating chain from the operating wheel, there is the guard 62 extending around the. part of the operating wheel engaged by the chain and also preferably extending slightly between the peripheral flanges ofthe upper'and lower sections of the. operatingwheel; This guard has the depending lug 63 resting upon the lateral lug 63 of the valve box 13 and it is secured For the purpose of automatically stopping the ascent or descent of the piston 2 within the cylinder 1, when the rotation of the main valve 23 has been discontinued, I have provided mechanism for rotating the auxiliary valve 24 upon movement of the piston whereby this auxiliary valve will close the passage in the main valve which is in communication with the cylinder. In detail, 65 is'a spiral or twisted rod extending longitudinally within the piston rod 3 and also extending upwardly through the upper head 8 of the cylinder and into the valve box 13 and having the upper polygonal-shaped end 66 engaging in a central correspondinglyshaped aperture in the auxiliary valve. This spiral rod is rotatably supported by means of the collar 67 seated upon the base of the central depressed portion 38 of the upper head and secured to the spiral rod by suitable means such as'the transverse pin 68. The diameter of this collar 67 is such that the space 39 formed in the upper head and surrounding the collar is sufliciently large to permit of the easy passage of the compressed air when exhausting.

With the above automatic cut-off mechanism, it will be seen that if the operator for any reason, discontinues the movement of the operating chain 56, thereby discontinuing the rotation of the main valve 23,. the piston will continue to move until either the inlet passage 25 or exhaust passage. 26 of the main valve, one of which has been in communication with the lower end of the cylton can be varied by varying the speed of rotation of the main valve, but it is to be understood that after either of the ports in the main valve has been completely opened, or in other words, brought into full communication with the main passage of the auxiliary valve, the main valve cannot be rotated at a faster rate than the auxiliaryvalve, due to the pin in the auxiliary valve en aging in the slot in the main valve.

till another important feature is the construction of the inletand exhaust passages 25 and 26 respectively in the main valve 23 whereby the volume of air passing therethrough canbe varied through a wide range. Specifically, the inlet passage has the .circumferentia-l grooved tail portion 69 opening upon the lower face of the valve and having a progressively decreasing U-shaped cross-sectional area toward its outer end,

and the leg 29 of the exhaust passage 26 also has a progressively decreasing U-shaped cross-sectional area toward its outer end, the arrangement being such that various sizes of these inlet and exhaust passages can be presented tl or the passage of the compressed air and as a consequence, the rate of movement of the piston can be correspondingly varied. Therefore, by slightly opening either of the passages in the main valve, the piston will have but a very slow rate oi? moven'ient, and by continuing the rotation of the main valve to maintain this same cross-sectional area of the passage, the rate of movement of the piston will remain the same. However, it the rotation of the main valve is discontinued, the auxiliary valve will gradually resume its normal position relative to the main valve to close the passage which had been open, thereby stopping the piston. Or if the rotation of the main valve is speeded up relative to the auxiliary, the piston will move at a greater rate of speed. i

To avoid damaging the hoist by too great a movement of the piston, I have provided a stop mechanism which limits the amount of rotation of the main valve when the piston is near the ends of its stroke. As shown particularly in Figure (3, is a Geneva stop mechanism comprising the stop wheel 71 rotatably mounted upon the support 59 for the operating chain sheaves, and also comprising the stop pinion 72 secured axially upon the upper section l7, of the operating wheel. This stop pinion has a pin 73 adapted to engage in radial slots 74 in the stop wheel and also adapted to engage the peripheral face 7 5 of the stop wheel which prevents further rotation of the operating wheel. This stop pinion also has the segmental projection 76 which engages the concave peripheral faces 77 in the stop wheel between the radial slots 74. so that for each rotation of the'stop pinion, the stop wheel will be rotated the distance between the centers of its adjacent radial slots. The number of radial slots 74 in the stop wheel is sufficient to permit of a sul'licient number of revolutions of the operating wheel, and consequently of the main valve to enable the piston 2 within the cylinder 1 to move its predetermined length of stroke and the peripheral stop face of the stop wheel is so located that it prevents further rotation o1 the operating wheel and main valve when the piston is near the ends of its strokes. The stop pinion 72 comprising the pin 73 and segmental projection 76' is preterably integral with the operating wheel. lVith this arrangement, when the piston is nearing the end of its downward or inwardstroke and the main valve is prevented from rotating, the auxiliary valve gradually closes the open port in the main valve, thereby preventing the escape of air from the lower end of the c linder and forming an air cushion in this lower end for assisting in stopping the descent of the piston.

The springs 53 avoid breakage of the parts of the hoist, if for any reason, the piston and consequently the auxiliary valve have moved beyond their predetermined limits of travel for example, suppose the Geneva stop be in position to prevent further movement of the operating wheel after the piston reaches its normal predetermined position of downward or inward travel, and suppose also that leakage takes place at the valves, piston or packing at the lower end of the cylinder, the pressure under the piston is gradually reduced below that necessary to support the particular load u 3011 the hook connected to the piston rod. n this event, the load might be actually supported by the Geneva stop instead of by air pressure, but breakage of the parts might follow. However, the springs which are assembled with an initial compression sufficient to overcome the friction of the main valve without relative movement of the operating Wheel and the wheel therewithin and yieldably driven therefrom under ordinary conditions, will yield when subjected to heavy stresses such as migliit. be produced under the above conditions, and thereby prevent breakage of the parts.

Figures 20 and 21 show a. balanced hoist in which there is the same general arrangement of parts with the exception that the pipe 78 connecting into the lower end of the cylinder 7 9 is connected directly into the air supply main 80, the exhaust chamber 81 in the valve box 82 opens directly into the atmosphere, and the air transfer chamber 83 in the valve box, which in the singleacting type of hoist communicated with the lower end of the cylinder, has this communication closed and now communicates with the space within the upper end of the cylinder, this space being air tight. To secure this com munication, the valve box 82 has the vertical passage 84 communicating with the air transfer chamber 83 and the annular space 85 formed within the central depressed portion, of the upper head of the cylinder.

To prevent rotation of the piston in the cylinder in either construction of hoist, I have provided a shallow longitudinal groove 86 in the outer face of the piston rod which is slidably engaged in by a key 87 secured to the packing gland at the lower end of the hoist cylinder.

lVhat I claim as my invention is:

1. In a fluid pressure hoist, the combination with a cylinder, of a piston slidable therewithin. a main rotary valve co-axial with said piston for controlling the entrance and discharge of the fluid to and from said cylinder to actuate said pistonin opposite 'tric with said main rotary valve and adapted to close said main rotary valve when the same has become stationary, and a shaft coaxial with said piston and connected thereto to be rotated thereby, saidshaft beingconnected to said auxiliary rotary valve to ro- =tate the same u on movementof'said ")iston.

2. In a'fluid pressure hoist, the combination with a cylinder comprising a cylindrical member and heads at opposite ends thereof and a piston slidably mounted with in said cylinder, of a fluid chest mounted upon one of said heads, a manually operable valve within said chest and co-axial with said piston for controlling the entrance and discharge of fluid into said cylinder, a secondvalve within said chest adapted to close said manually operable valve when the latter has become stationary. and a shaft operatively connected to said second valve and piston to actuate said second valve upon movement of said piston.

3. In a fluid pressure hoist, the combination with the hoisting member and the chamher in which said hoisting member is mov able, of manually operable rotatable means for controlling the flow of the fluid to and from said chamber, automatic means operated by said hoisting member in its different positions for closing said manually operable means, and means for yieldably limiting the rotary movement of said manually operable means beyond apredeterinined povalve, and a stop for limiting the movement of main valve when said hoisting member is near the end of its movement.

5. In a fluid pressure hoist, the combination with a cylinder, of a piston slidable therein in opposite directions to raise and lower the load, a main valve rotatableinopposite directions to control the fluid entering and leaving said cylinder, an auxiliary valve adapted to close said main valve operated upon movement of said piston, and yieldable stop mechanism for limiting the rotary.

' with said piston movable in opposite directions to control the fluid entering and leaving said cylinder, an auxiliary rotary valve concentric with and adapted to close said main rotary valve operated by said piston, and means for yieldably rotating said main rotary valve in either direction.

7. In a fluid pressure hoist, the combination .witha cylinder, of a piston slidable therein in opposite directions to raise and lower the load, a main valve rotatable in opposite directions to control the fluid entering and leaving said cylinder, an auxiliary valve adapted to close said main valve and rotated by the movement of said piston, an operating wheel rotatable through more than one revolution and yieldably connected to said main valve to rotate the same in either direction, and means for limiting the rotation of said operating wheel in either direction.

8. In a fluid pressure hoist, the combination with a cylinder, of a piston slidable therein in opposite directions to raise and lower the load, a main valve rotatable in opposite directions to control the fluid entering and leaving said cylinder, an auxiliary valve adapted to close said main valve and rotated by the movement of said piston, a rotatable opera-ting wheel yieldably connected to said main valve to rotate the same in either direction, and a Geneva stop mechanism for limiting the rotationof said operating wheel in either direction.

9. In a fluid pressure hoist, the combination wit-h a cylinder, of a piston slidable therewithin, a head upon the upper end of said cylinder, a fluid chest upon said head comprising a valve box having a chamber adapted to communicate with said cylinder, and a cover closing saidchamber, cooperating main and auxiliary valves rotatably mounted within the said chamber and controlling the passage of the fluid to said cylinder, a rod connected to said auxiliary valve and rotated by the movement of said piston, and an operating wheel for rotating said main valve mounted upon said cover.

10. In a fluid pressure hoist, the combination with the hoisting member adapted to be actuated by the fluid, of a main valve adapted to be rotatedthrough a plurality of revolutions for controlling the flow of fluid, and an auxiliary valve operating upon movement and in the different positions of said hoisting member for controlling said main valve to shut off the flow of fluid.

11. In a fluid pressure hoist, the combination with the hoisting member adapted to be actuated by the fluid, of a main valve adapted to berotated through a plurality ofrevolutions for controlling the flow of fluid, and an-auxiliary valve operating upon movement and in the different positions of said hoisting member for controlling said main valve to shut off the flow of fluid, and a stop mechanism for limiting the movement of the main valve after a predetermined number of revolutions thereof.

12. In a fluid pressure hoist, the combination with a cylinder, of a piston slidable therevvithin, a head upon one end of said cylinder provided with passages therethrough opening into said cylinder, a fluid chest upon said head comprising a valve box having a der, and automatic means Within said box operated by said piston in its different posi tions for closing said main rotary valve.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM E. SIMPSON. 

